Turning Point
by Hederah
Summary: A 16-year-old Commander Shepard goes exploring on the vessel she lives on, the SSV Einstein, and gets more than she bargained for. Bioware owns the universe, I just write in it.


Author's Note

So, this was written for a little project over on . It's a bit of backstory pertaining to how my Shepard became a biotic.

Fun Fact: I totally came up with the SSV Einstein off the top of my head, only to find out from Zabaleta in ME1 that Shepard canonically did spend time there.

I guess I'm psychic.

* * *

><p>July 16, 2168<p>

Alliance Carrier SSV Einstein

High Orbit, Zion, Utopia System

* * *

><p><em>Asleep. Perfect.<em>

Samantha Joanne Shepard crept silently past her mother's room and down the hall towards the door to their quarters. It had been almost six months since "Alliance Lieutenant" Hannah Shepard had been transferred to the SSV Einstein with her fourteen-year-old daughter in tow; their longest stay aboard a single vessel yet. Sam had almost the entire starboard side of the massive, kilometer-long vessel explored, but there was still more out there.

"There you are," whispered James Cook, her longtime friend and partner-in-crime. "I thought you chickened out again."

"I already told you, Jim, my mom was up all night talking on the computer," Sam said with a hint of annoyance.

"Then go through the ducts!"

The two children made their way quickly through the labyrinthine corridors to their previous stopping point: a small equipment closet four decks below the bridge.

"Here we are, Sam," said James, tapping at his omnitool, a gift from his engineer father.

She looked up at the bulkhead in front of them, where a small ventilation shaft protruded.

"You're joking."

James' face went deadpan.

"Please tell me you're joking," Sam said, half-pleading.

James shook his head. Shepard turned towards the bulkhead and pulled a slim electric screwdriver from her pocket.

"You gonna help me up?"

"If you insist."

James grabbed Sam around the thighs and lifted her up so she could unscrew the vent.

"You know," he said, "The view is pretty good from back here, Sammy."

Shepard scissored her legs, jerking from his grasp, and landed a solid left hook to his jaw, throwing him to the ground.

"View's pretty good here too, Jimbo."

She offered him her hand, and pulled him to his feet.

"Don't try that again, Romeo," she said, then looked up at the open shaft. "And you're going first, I might add."

James shrugged with a ridiculous smile and took a running leap at the wall. He pulled himself into the small opening, then turned his head around.

"Coming, princess?"

"Now I am!" Shepard yelled, and leaped after him, a mad grin across her features.

They dropped from the shaft into an unfamiliar room filled with blinking servers and monitors, which James stared longingly at before Sam pulled him into the next room.

"So, where are we, Sacagawea?"

"Who?"

"She was the native guide for Lewis and Clark."

"Sam, who are they?"

"Have you been paying any attention in History class?" She stopped, then shrugged. "Of course not. Why do I even bother?"

"Because you enjoy answering your own questions?"

"Shut up, man with the map. There, that better?"

"Sure. We appear to be…" James tapped on his omnitool, the screen's flashing illuminating the dark corridor.

"Ah, yes. We're in the ship's nav core. These are the computers running the navigational charts and _that_," he said, motioning to a large metal door with a complicated-looking lock, "is the ship's power controls." He looked up, a smug smile on his thin lips.

Sam clapped unenthusiastically.

"Bravo, Matisse. Your masterpiece will astound the world," She said dryly.

"What?"

"Never mind. Let's just go look at the big computer in there."

Shepard saw James' eyes light up and followed him to the door, which he unlocked enthusiastically.

"That was fast."

"I'm the best, Sammy. You should know that by now."

They walked through a cloud of mist into the dark, blue-lit room, which had to have been cooled to minus ten degrees. Sam shivered in her black tanktop.

"Want my jacket? It's a little chilly in here. To keep the OSDs cool."

Sam took his jacket, a rough green canvas marine issue he carried everywhere.

"OSDs?"

"Optical Storage Drives. Where they stash all the ship's data?"

Shepard wrapped the jacket around herself and wandered towards the far side, where an intense light poured from a slit in a door.

"James, what's this room?"

She heard him shuffling through the racks of equipment, obviously lost to her for the time being.

"Fine. I'll go in myself."

Sam yanked on the handle and the door swung inwards, bathing her in harsh light. She looked back towards James, who had pulled several memory cores out of their sockets and was fishing in his pockets for something. She turned and walked into the room.

"My, my, my," She murmured to herself.

The light was gushing from a large pillar in the center of the room, which was circular and otherwise empty and white. She strode towards the pillar, wonder filling her mind.

_What is this thing?_

She immediately regretted not waiting for James. He would talk her ear off about whatever it was and she'd end up learning way more than necessary. At least she'd know though. She stepped forward and touched the pillar. It was made of glass and warm to the touch, but not hot.

_Glass. See, Sam? No big deal._

She flicked the glass and turned to walk away, but a small crack spiderwebbed across the surface where she had flicked it. She stared in horror as the cracks spread across the entire surface of the glowing pillar.

_Ah, crap._

The pillar exploded outwards, sending the glowing _whatever it was_ splashing across the room. Shepard covered her eyes, but was covered herself in the viscous fluid that spattered all over the room. On cue, alarms blared and nozzles recessed into the ceiling dumped some sort of foam into the room, extinguishing the light emanating from the liquid. Sam got to her feet and sprinted for the door, but was greeted by two heavily-armed marines and a scientist, all in full vacuum gear. They grabbed her.

"What did you do, you little…"

"No, she's covered in the stuff!"

"Are you a stowaway?"

"She needs medical care right now…"

"What she needs is a good…"

With a small sigh, Sam Shepard passed out, as the strange fluid had entered her bloodstream.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, she came to in the hospital wing. Handcuffed to the bed.<p>

"This is really great, ma'am. I'm enjoying the hospitality!" She shouted to a passing nurse before settling into the stark white gurney.

Not a minute later, James Cook walked in.

"Hey Sam," he said, looking down at his feet.

"Hey Jimbo. Got your omnitool?" She shook the handcuffs around her wrist invitingly.

"Dad took it away. He found all the classified stuff I had swiped. I'm grounded."

"Well, I'm arrested. I win." She folded her arms and sank back into the bed.

"You know you almost died?"

"That's what you say every time. Never seriously."

"I am serious," he said, looking at her sadly, his ice-blue eyes into her lime green ones.

Shepard looked down.

"When that tube exploded you got yourself covered in the excess Eezo from the ship's gravity generator. You were glowing for about three days. They thought you were dead."

"Eezo?"

"Element..."

"I know _that_ one, James. I got covered in the stuff they say can kill you? Where are my extra arms? My tentacles?" She said, waving her single pair of arms above her head wildly.

"You didn't mutate, well not externally."

Shepard stared at him pensievely.

"Doctor says you might be biotic," James said quickly, then pursed his lips.

"Biotic? Like the freaky kids you see on the extranet specials?"

"Yeah. Like throwing stuff with your mind and killing people by looking at them."

Sam sat, stunned. Being a biotic was a death sentence. She knew a couple on the ship, and they seemed nice enough, but the other kids in school hated them. They could control your thoughts and kill you without a second thought, or so they said.

"You can't tell anyone," she said hurriedly.

"Never," said James, putting his hand over his heart.


End file.
